Valvoline Inks Big Lease in La Porte, Texas

Valvoline has signed a big lease for a distribution center in Port Crossing Commerce Center, a development of Liberty Property Trust in La Porte.

The Lexington, Ky.-based company will distribute lubricants, antifreeze and other chemical products that support the automotive industry from the new warehouse at 1302 Wharton Weems Blvd. The facility, west of Texas 146 between Port Houston’s Barbours Cut and Bayport container terminals, is about 10 miles from Valvoline’s longtime plant in Deer Park.

Valvoline will take occupancy of the 472,000-square-foot distribution center in the second quarter of fiscal 2019.

“The larger distribution center is needed to support the quickly growing Valvoline Instant Oil Change quick lube operations and international business, especially in Latin America,” Parashar Joshi, Valvoline’s vice president of global operations and supply chain, said in an email.

The warehouse, which will employ about 50 people, will serve the central and southeastern United States, along with Latin America and China.

Valvoline, which has more than 1,170 Valvoline Instant Oil Change shops nationwide, targeted Houston as a market for expansion last year. Last month, Valvoline opened its fourth company-owned service center in the local market, in Rosenberg.

Houston’s industrial vacancy rate fell to 5.0 percent in the fourth quarter, according to commercial real estate firm CBRE. The low vacancy comes as a record 16.3 million square feet of industrial projects were started in 2018.

Deals are in the works to lease the remaining 127,000 square feet in the 1302 Wharton Weems Blvd. building, according to Colliers International. Liberty Property Trust is a publicly traded real estate investment trust based in Malvern, Pa.